The car itself traveled from San Francisco to Long Beach, California, for the conference as part of Google’s ongoing tests. While Thrun tells me he thinks we’ll see self-driving cars in the hands of consumers within our lifetimes, he notes that at this time, “It’s really just a science project … pushing the boundaries of what’s possible
Limitations of the vehicle currently include dealing with weather, as well as capturing the imagery and data necessary to allow the car to do things such as stop at red lights and observe speed limits (most of this work has been limited to the Bay Area for now).
Nonetheless, one can’t help be impressed by what Google has accomplished thus far, with its test drive clearly set up to show off just how far along the technology is (if not to make this blogger slightly nauseous after lunch).
Check our videos from inside and outside the car below:
